Jay Sigel

Jay Sigel, 39, of Berwyn, Pennsylvania, became the eighth man to win consecutive Amateur Championships, when he defeated Chris Perry, of Edina, Minnesota, 8 and 7, at the North Shore Country Club, in Glenview, Illinois. Sigel was the first since E. Harvie Ward, Jr., in 1955-56, to win consecutive Amateur titles.

After qualifying with a 148 total Sigel was taken to extra holes twice. He was three down with four holes to play against George MacDonald, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, but made consecutive birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th to square the match, then birdied the first extra hole to win.

In the third round, Sigel was six under par in defeating Eric Peterson, of Fresno, California, 5 and 3. He built an early 2-up lead in his quarterfinal match, against Roy Biancalana, of Franklin Park, Illinois, but Biancalana squared the match and forced extra holes. Sigel won with a birdie from 12 feet on the 19th.

In the semifinals, Sigel won, 3 and 2, against, Clark Burroughs, of Overland Park, Kansas. Burroughs was the qualifying medalist, with 139. Perry, the son of Jim Perry, a former major league pitcher, was among 14 players who shot 150 in the qualifying rounds, and after winning one of the six available places in match play in a playoff, had to survive three extra hole matches. He defeated Tim Straub, the U.S. Junior Amateur Champion, from Orchard Park, New York, John Erickson, of Palos Verdes Estates, California, and Clifton Pierce of Lawton, Oklahoma, all on the 19th. Pierce had been 1 up going to the 17th against Perry in the semifinal, but he hit his tee shot out of bounds.

In the final, Sigel was 2 up after nine holes and 3 up after 18 holes. He was devastating in the afternoon. Out in 33, Sigel won five of the first nine holes and stood 8 up. In sequence, he won the second and fifth with birdies, the sixth with a par, the seventh with another birdie and the ninth with a par. They halved the 10th and 11th holes to end the match. Sigel had only two bogeys during the 29 holes of the final match. The USGA accepted entries from 3,553 players.